News Story

CapWIN Participates in Successful RESCUME Demo

On November 13th, 2014, staff with the University of Maryland’s Capital Wireless Information Net (CapWIN) Program and in partnership with the Battelle Corporation, participated in a live demonstration of technologies designed to improve the safety of first responders while at the scene of roadway incidents. Developed under a Federal Department of Transportation Grant, the Response, Emergency Staging, Communications, Uniform Management, and Evacuation (RESCUME) grant was established to test new vehicle collision avoidance and automated vehicle location (AVL) technologies. These prototype solutions are designed to alert first responders when other vehicles that may pose a threat to their safety, enter a pre-defined “incident zone.” In addition, the prototype included new AVL functions added to existing CapWIN Mobile Client software to establish lane-level views of responders on scene of an incident, including access to the live dash-cam video from their vehicles. These new technologies exchange data with each other in order to collect real-time updates from first responders at the scene of an incident and to alert them if oncoming vehicles may endanger their safety. The next step is to develop plans for a regional pilot of these technologies to collect feedback from first responders. A potential pilot is planned for 2015. For more information, please contact Roddy Moscoso at rmoscoso@capwin.org.